healthcare.dev docs
API referenceCodes

Child codes

GET /v1/codes/{system}/{code}/children

GET https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/codes/{system}/{code}/children

Direct children of a code in the hierarchy (active codes only).

Requires an API key: Authorization: Bearer hdev_live_.... See Authentication.

Path parameters

NameTypeRequiredDescriptionExample
system"icd10cm" | "icd10pcs" | "hcpcs"yesCode systemicd10cm
codestringyesCode, with or without the dotE11.9

Query parameters

NameTypeRequiredDescriptionExample
view"compact" | "full"nocompact returns only the fields an agent usually needs (fewer tokens); full (default) returns every fieldcompact
fieldsstringnoComma-separated record fields to return, e.g. code,display,billablecode,display,billable

Examples

curl

curl "https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HDEV_API_KEY"

TypeScript

const res = await fetch("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children", {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HDEV_API_KEY}` },
});
const { data, meta } = await res.json();

Python

import os
import requests

res = requests.get("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['HDEV_API_KEY']}"})
body = res.json()

Try it

GEThttps://api.healthcare.dev/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children?view=compact&fields=code%2Cdisplay%2Cbillable
Get a free key
Copy as curl
curl "https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children?view=compact&fields=code%2Cdisplay%2Cbillable" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HDEV_API_KEY"

Response

Children

{
  "data": [
    {
      "system": "icd10cm",
      "code": "E11.9",
      "display": "Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications",
      "description": "Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications",
      "billable": true,
      "parent": "E11",
      "attributes": {},
      "status": "active",
      "effective_start": "2015-10-01",
      "effective_end": null,
      "replaced_by": []
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "source": "cms-icd10",
    "data_version": "2026.1",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-24T12:00:00Z",
    "license": "Public domain (CMS). Reference data, not medical advice."
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children",
    "next": "/v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.9/children?cursor=eyJrIjoiRTExLjkifQ"
  }
}

Fields

FieldTypeAlways presentDescription
system"icd10cm" | "icd10pcs" | "hcpcs"yes
codestringyes
displaystringyesShort description
descriptionstring | nullyesLong description
billablebooleanyesValid for billing (leaf / header flag)
parentstring | nullyes
attributesobjectnoSystem-specific attributes, e.g. HCPCS coverage and BETOS codes
status"active" | "retired" | "replaced"yes
effective_startstring (date)yes
effective_endstring | null (date)yes
replaced_bystring[]no

Errors

Errors are application/problem+json (RFC 9457). Branch on type, not on title. See Errors.

StatustypeWhen
400invalid-requestA parameter or the body failed validation; errors lists each field.
401unauthorizedMissing, malformed or revoked API key.
404not-foundNo record with that id (retired records are still returned).
429rate-limited / quota-exceededToo many requests per second (retry after Retry-After), or the monthly quota is used up.
503dataset-unavailable / unavailableThe dataset has no published version yet, or the service is degraded.

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